single-handedly deciding his team is not going home. the question is, will the heat close it out at home tomorrow night? it's "way too early" for this. good morning i'm willie geist and this is "way too early." the show that goes into michael mode each and every morning. unfortunately it's not michael jordan mold. it's michael bolton. i'm glad you're up with us this morning watching on msnbc or listening live on sirius xm radio. you can e-mail me. you can also tweet me @williegeist1, let me know what you're doing up at this hour. or you can text the word awake followed by your response to 622639. we'll read the best responses later in the show. the next 30 minutes will be your cram session for this friday, june 8th. yes, it is friday, and there's a lot to tell you about, including ben bernanke telling congress the expiration of the bush tax cuts could send the country over

a fiscal cliff. we'll let him explain. plus greece really needs to get its act together. come on, guys. i'm not sure how much more of this we can watch. greek politicians now brawling on morning television, taking swings at women. tell you what's going on here a little bit later in the snow. first let's get to the news live at 5:30 a.m. here at 30 rock in new york city. another day of brutal killing of civilians in syria and another round of condemnations from a united nations that can only condemn. with the reported massacre of another 80 civilians this week, international envoy kofi annan is warning of an all-out civil war there. we'll have a live report in just a moment from nbc's amon mohadine but first a look at the latest on the ground from syria and some of the images in the report are graphic. >> lying for the world to see, the victims of what amateur video appears to show as a massacre in the village of kobair and surrounding areas.

among the dead, women and children, even entire families were killed. we reached a human rights activist in syria in contact with eyewitnesses. they blamed the military and government militia. >> they attacked the first area by shelling and entered the area and killed the people whom they met there. some people were killed by shots in the head and others were killing by knife. >> reporter: a similar attack occurred two weeks ago in the village of houla. u.n. observers on the ground tried to visit the area of the most recent massacre. they came under attack and were denied entry by the syrian military. >> the regime sponsored violence that we witnessed again in hama yesterday is simply unconscionable. >> reporter: for more than a year the assad regime has suppressed an uprising against his rule. many fear this country is descending into civil war as opposition forces become more militarized and brazen in their

attacks against government forces. kofi annan, who brokered a u.n. peace plan aimed at ending the violence, said what many on the ground already know. >> i must be frank and confirm that the plan is not being implemented. >> reporter: as annan spoke, syria continued to burn. the syrian military continued its assault on towns where civilians young and old were fleeing the shells raining down, and while the international community continues to wrangle over what it can do, syrians caught in the middle continue to cry out for help. >> that is nbc, and amon joins us now from cairo. good to see you again. this latest massacre of women and children shows us again the u.n. really can't do much more to stop syria without the help of russia and china. they want tougher sanctions, but russia and china have now come out and said they're not going to go for that. where do we go from here?

>> it's absolutely right. there is a paralysis now that is so evident for many people in the region. the arab countries that want to supply weapons and support to the opposition won't do it without the u.n. or particularly the u.s.' approval. that's not going to happen without the support of russia and china. so kofi annan yesterday conceded his plan is not working. he wants to now try and enter a different negotiated plan that brings on board the regional players, including russia, china, and syria's closest ally in the region, iran. his plan, at least according to some of the leaked reports, suggest that with these three major powers, three major allies of syria, they can begin some kind of transition, negotiated transition with the syrian president assad where he may perhaps in the coming months step down, and allow for someone else to assume power. but for the time being, russia and china say any type of international imposed transition plan will be rejected. and so that paralysis remains as

evident as it ever has been over the past several months. . >> just yesterday kofi annan told the u.n. general assembly we cannot allow mass killing to become part of everyday reality in syria. the question is, what's the u.n. going to do to stop it? ayman, thanks as always for your reporting 'tis morning. back here at home, mitt romney and the republicans declaring victory this morning, at least in the fund-raising department. romney and president obama both coming off multimillion dollar campaign swings out west this week in what's shaping up to be a record-shattering year for political fund-raising. look at these numbers from last month the president and the dnc took in $60 million in the month of may, surpassing april's totals. but it was romney and the rnc having an even bigger month as you can see right there. $76.8 million. it's the first time the republican nominee's haul has topped the president's. it's also nearly the same amount that romney raised during the entire primary season. in the words of obama's campaign manager, quote, we got beat. messina wrote that in an e-mail to supporters last night asking

for donations to counter what he calls romney's special interest advantage. romney took his campaign yesterday to st. louis. a city hit hard by the economic downturn, where he framed the president's leadership in very stark terms. >> record numbers of americans are now living in poverty. 46 million people in this country living below the poverty line. this is not just a failure of policy, it is a moral failure of tragic proportion. our government has a moral commitment to help every american help himself. him and herself. and that -- and that commitment has been broken. >> a moral failing. the president meanwhile out with a new ad admitting economic growth has been slow but says congress is to blame for not doing more to pass his tax plan. >> we're still fighting our way back from the worst economic crisis since the great depression. our businesses have created

almost 4.3 million new jobs over the last 27 months. but we're still not creating them as fast as we want. >> the president's jobs plan will put teachers, firefighters, police officers, and construction workers back to work right now. and it's paid for by asking the wealthiest americans to pay a little more. but congress refuses to act. tell congress we can't wait. >> at an event in las vegas the students from unlv the president also took a little aim at congress over the issue of college loan rates. without a plan to cover the $6 billion extension, interest rates are set to double just three weeks from right now. >> the clock is running out. you know, in today's economy, higher education can't be a luxury. it's an economic necessity. everybody should be able to afford it. this is a no-brainer. so i just said to congress, get this done. get it done. get it done. this is not -- this is not complicated. >> the runnin' rebels of unlv.

aside from jobs and student loans another combustible campaign issue is taxes and the impending expiration of the bush-era tax cults. now former president clinton is apologizing for statements he made to cnbc where he seemed to undercut the president's message of raising taxes on the wealthy. >> i support his position and i think on the merits, upper-income people are going to have to contribute to the long-term debt reduction. i'm very sorry about what happened. it was -- what i thought something had to be done on the fiscal cliff before the election. apparently nothing has to be done until the first of the year. >> republicans were quick to tout clinton's original comments. david axelrod says despite the so-called controversy, if you want to call it that, the former president remains a crucial asset to the campaign. >> i'm not asking for an apology from bill clinton. i have deep admiration from bill clinton and i watched this parade of republicans saying oh, you know, we ought to listen to

bill clinton. they should listen to bill clinton. bill clinton understands what it takes to gre this economy. he understands that we can't cut our way to prosperity. he understands that we have to bring these deficits down in a responsible way. there's no separation between him and this president. they have the same understanding of how you grow the economy. >> you want him to go out there and campaign? >> i think he's a tremendous asset to us. i have no compunction about that. >> we move on to business now, where fed chairman ben bernanke says the federal reserve is prepared to take action if needed to protect the u.s. economy. but for now, there are no concrete plans to do so. response to the dismal may jobs report, and the growing economic crisis in europe, mr. bernanke told leaders of congress yesterday the fed is still trying to determine whether or not dirk steps are necessary to bolster economic growth from his group. bernanke did warn congress about the looming fiscal cliff of automatic spending cuts and those expiring bush tax cuts. >> the potential expiration of the so-called bush tax cuts of

2001-2003 tax cuts is the single biggest item in the fiscal cliff. i'm not necessarily saying that the right thing to do is to extend those cuts. it could be there are other steps you could take that would have a similar impact. but, that is the single biggest component of the so-called cliff. >> taking an early look at the markets as we get all up in your business. cnbc's karen tso is live in london for us. karen, good morning. >> good morning, willie. you take a look at the market reaction to some of the disappointment about qe-3 the markets are up 2% to 3% at the start of the week. markets are getting ahead of themselves hoping for stimulus from the fed. ben bernanke didn't exactly say he's not going to stimulate again but he dampened some of the expectations around timing. if you look at the market reaction to this, because as some of the earlier commentary from the fed minutes this week suggested there might be more stimulus, there was strength in the u.s. dollar. this caused some selling across

the commodities space. the likes of gold were sold down 1% in trade. silver down 2%. name next, in fact, one of the highest commodities today, taking it back to loets so far. in the u.s. market were patchy overnight. we saw the nasdaq and the s&p 500 weak and the dow higher. what's going to be interesting today is a report that's just come across the wires a short time ago suggesting spain may seek financial aid for its banking sector this weekend after a conference call by a eurozone finance ministers. also some nerves out there ahead of some weekend points out of china on industrial production and cpi. back to you. >> all right, karen, thank you very much. kind of an ominous headline in this morning's "wall street journal" that reads, stock rally snags on gloom. still ahead here on "way too early," it was the kind of game where impressions are changed, and legends are made. the knock.

is that lebron james folds under pressure. what did he do with the season on the line? how about hanging 45 on the c's. highlights ahead in sports. plus a beautiful moment of bipartisanship with emphasis on the moment part. john boehner and nancy pelosi hug it out when we get a check on weather. >> 7:30 this morning aboard the "uss kearsarge" off bosnia air force captain scott o'grady is safely aboard. the harrowing rescue mission is over. >> we shared the relief of his family, his friends and his loved ones that he is now safe and sound.

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it is 5:45 in the morning as

you look at a beautiful live picture of the sun coming up over the united states capitol building. man, that's pretty. let's get a check of your weather from bill karins. how is it looking out there? >> air conditioning. >> where? >> everywhere just about. it's going to be a holt weekend. even d.c. getting up to about 91 by the time the end of the weekend. summer is returning in a big way to many portions of the country. right now the warm air is surging up through the middle of the nation. that areas that will avoid the warmth, the pacific northwest and down around florida. you're still going to be warm and humid but you're not going to be hot because all of the clouds and showers and even thunderstorms are out. one of the biggest outdoor events will take place near new york city at belmont, triple crown on nbc. saturday afternoon, thunderstorms should be rolling through. the race will be about 6:30 or so. close call whether storms will be around. could be one of those interesting story lines. forecastwise, the heat returns to the middle of the country, up near 90 in minneapolis, chicago is going to get very warm this weekend. notice not many cool spots on the map. as we go through the weekend, the heat really returns to areas

like d.c., up near 89 by the time we go through saturday. chicago, at 92. and by the time the weekend ends, chicago could be in the mid 90s. that will be one of the hottest temperatures you've had so far this year. also, southeast will be one of those rainy spots with thunderstorms as we go through this weekend. i think you notice, willie, officially now on the weather map, definitely looks like summer. >> all right now we're getting to summer. and a balmy 102 in phoenix. always like to look at phoenix to see how high they can get. we turn to sports now. it was win or go home for the miami heat last night in boston and lebron james, the once in a lifetime talent who's been knocked for going quiet when the games matter most, singlehandedly put his team on his back. first quarter lebron gets it, going with the drive and the dunk. leaves paul pierce in the dust on his way to the hoop. second quarter chris bosh going to miss the hook shot. lebron rising above everybody to clean it up. he had 30 points and five rebounds at the half. 30 at the half.

heat are up by 13 at the break. maybe lebron's only mistake of the night, rondo beats him for the rebound, gets the ball back and lays it in. lebron slams the ball down in frustration himself. he's teed up for that one. fourth quarter now, game well in hand. the heat really controlled this. lebron finds dwyane wade in the back door cut for the score. the heat blow out the celtics 98-79 to force a game seven on saturday, back in miami. this morning's headline the miami herald says it all, come back king. lebron went from 45 points, 50 rebounds, and 5 assists willing the heat to victory and now game seven. only wilt chamberlain, by the way, has ever matched those playoff numbers, 45-15-5 in a playoff game. when the horses come out of the gate at saturday's belmont stakes, i'll have another, has a chance to write his name into the record books by completing the first triple crown in 34 years since affirmed did it. the front page of this morning's

"usa today" says, can he do it? should he win, i'll have another will become just the twelfth winner of the triple crown. he'll be starting from the number 11 post. only two belmont winners have run from that post since 1905. the colt is the odds-on favorite 4-5 according to yesterday's betting lines. and if the finish at the preakness is any indication it's going to be a close one. i'll have another edging out bodemeister at the finish line. of course you can watch the belmont stakes on nbc. in what is now the biggest lawsuit in sports history more than 2,000 former professional football players are suing the nfl for allegedly concealing information linking football related head trauma to permanent brain injury. that includes dementia and alzheimer's disease. the complaint accuses the league of glorifying violence and failing to impose proper safety regulations. but the league denies any wrongdoing saying in a statement the nfl has long made player safety a priority and continues to do so. any allegation the nfl sought to

mislead players has no merit. we'll have much more on this story, and all the sports when the editor of nation magazine joins us on "morning joe." the stanley cup finals between the devils and kings resume for game five in new jersey where the kings will try to clinch their first title in franchise history. that game is saturday night, tomorrow night, 8:00 eastern time. on nbc. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe" mitt romney wins a month of fund-raising against president obama for the very first time. with economic data trending away from the president and cash flowing to romney, is this race changing before our eyes? we'll knock that around with our "morning joe" crew. and when we come back here we'll huddle around the water cooler to watch adult politicians in greece act like my 2-year-old son and his friends when they haven't had their naps. "way too early" coming right back. ♪ 99 bushels of wheat on the farm...99 bushels of wheat! ♪

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we told you at the top of the show another 80 civilians reportedly killed in syria this week prompting the united states to support calls for a potential chapter 7 resolution in the united nations. that authorizes action that could ultimately lead to the use of military force. you want to sound smart today tell your friends the u.n. has only passed 15 chapter vii resolutions in its history. the first one came in 1950

during the korean war. the latest was passed in 2011 to authorize the use of force in libya. of course, this would require a little help from russia and china, which so far has not come. let's huddle up around the water cooler to watch a rare moment of congressional unity. there was an actual, physical embrace, if you can believe it. house speaker john boehner, reaching across the aisle to celebrate minority leader nancy pelosi and her 25 years in washington. miss pelosi accepts the hug graciously and then gets right back to their disagreements on taxes. >> i know i speak for the whole house when i rise today to say to the gentle lady from california, mrs. pelosi, congratulations on 25 years of real service to his institution. thank you. >> thank you, mr. speaker, for your kind words.

while, as you said, we may not always agree on taxes, we did at one time, when president bush was president, and we worked together at that time. it was good for the country, and it was a good model for us to go forward. >> there you go, see. it's a nice moment. they can do it if they really try. frustration boiling over in greece. i don't know if this one is fun funny, just ugly. political debate on live morning television turned into this. >> okay, i said i don't know if this is even funny. it's not funny. really? swinging at a woman sitting next to you. somebody needs to lay that guy out. that's the spokesman for greece's extremist golden dawn party attacking a female parliamentary candidate. the two apparently arpg ewing over whether there were oil

reserves south of crete. prosecutors have issued a warrant for the man's arrest. look at the other people sitting there watching him take swings. unbelievable. a funnier parliamentary brawl? thank you. here's the palate cleanser. this is ukraine last month. this is better. just a bunch of beefy dudes ripping each other's shirts offer. that's the ukrainian parliament descending into an all-out brawl. whew. okay. i feel much better now. still ahead on "way too early," why are you awake? your tweets, texts and e-mails are next. [ male announcer ] what's in your energy drink?

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we asked you at the top of the show what you could possibly be doing up at this hour. john tower has some answers. >> jay and linda write driving from vermont to new york to spend the weekend with a friend. know anyone that has four tickets to the yankees/mets game tomorrow? >> this is not stub hub. no i don't have tickets for you. go on stubhub.com or walk outside the stadium and three fingers in the air. works every time.